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Russia Backs Down On Skype, Gmail Ban

Posted by timothy on from the governments-should-be-afraid-of-their-citizens dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has backed away from its call for a ban on Skype, Gmail and Hotmail, first voiced on Friday. On 8 April, FSB official Alexander Andreyechkin said foreign-based services that allowed for encrypted communications posed a security problem for Russia. 'The uncontrollable use of such services can lead to a major threat to Russia's security,' Andreyechkin reportedly said at a government meeting."

1 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Re:ban at what scope? by Narcogen · · Score: 3, Informative

    The proposed ban was not against use in government communications. They need pass no law to achieve that, an executive order would be enough. The proposed ban was against any and all encrypted communications within the territory of Russia where the government has no key escrow. That includes Skype, Gmail, SSL, and plenty of other things.

    There's no education issue here, unless what you mean is that they want to 'educate' Russian students about the benefit of alternatives to Skype and Gmail that the Russian government can intercept.